CORE’s Educational Services Team works closely and collaboratively with our partner schools and districts. These dedicated individuals provide ongoing instruction, support and guidance to the educators they are partnered with to create capacity for sustainable change. If you’d like to join the CORE team as an Educational Consultant, please visit our Careers page to learn more.
Gail Adams is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Gail is a veteran educator who is certified in general education, special education and as a reading specialist. She has thirty years of experience as a teacher and seven years as a district level program specialist. In addition to working for the Poway Unified School District, Gail has served as an educational consultant for the San Diego County Office of Education and  the North County Professional Development Federation. As a contributing author and trainer for materials developed under two California reading grants: Teaching Reading in Every Classroom and Effective Intervention Academy, Gail worked closely with teachers and students in grades 4-8. Gail is a nationally certified trainer for several intervention programs: REWARDS, Phonics for Reading, Read Well, Third Quest and Read Naturally. She is co-author of the Six Minute Solution : A Reading Fluency Program, eSolution: Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension and Words for Academic Writing.
Kristina Arcuri is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She is a superintendent with 24 years of experience in education sector, focused on driving growth and improving test scores by recruiting and maintaining high quality staff. She is a decisive leader and analytical problem-solver with solid track record of success.
For over 13 years, Kristina has worked with state, district, school and classroom level reform through professional development, coaching, collaborative planning meetings, data analysis, and curriculum support at all levels pre–K to 12. She supported state, district, and national standards development and implementation through effective instructional practices.
Kristina has coached and presented in over 22 states nationally and has provided professional development to schools through various federal projects including Reading First, Read to Achieve, No Child Left Behind, and Race to the Top.
Joan Barrett is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Joan has been contributing to the field of education for over twenty-five years and spent more than fifteen years teaching mathematics at the middles school, high school, and college level. Joan has taught a variety of courses, ranging from remedial Mathematics to AP Statistics. In her role as math coach, Joan often modeled lessons in the classroom to support teachers by demonstrating engaging lessons. Additionally, several years were devoted to improving teacher effectiveness by creating and conducting professional workshops for math educators via her various employers. Joan has worked as a Scholastic Consultant supporting implementation of Scholastic intervention programs. Initially, consulting was dedicated to Literacy Programs such as Read 180 and System 44. Joan joined Math Solutions in 2010. Her focus has included supporting math intervention programs. Joan supports teachers working toward implementation fidelity. She models lessons for teachers and students as well as deepens teacher’s understanding of the math programs and teaching best practices. Data analysis and connection to instruction is also pivotal in her work.
Liana Bautista is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Liana is enthusiastic about teaching foundational reading skills. She is passionate about implementing curriculum that inspires students to become confident readers. Liana has taught in public, private, and alternative school settings in Santa Cruz County. She has worked as a bilingual classroom teacher, reading interventionist, and Language Arts specialist. Liana has created data-driven reading curricula that use systemic and structured methods to support a child’s reading development. As a SIPPS Lead teacher, she has used all of the SIPPS program levels to deliver instruction to her students. Liana continues to deepen her understanding of the SIPPS program by attending CORE’s SIPPS trainings offered by her district.
Liana received a Bachelor’s in History with a Minor in Education from UC Santa Cruz; and has a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from Cal State Monterey Bay. She is a member of the California Reading Association.
Mary Buck is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She holds a master’s degree in administration from the University of Montana and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Montana State University. Ms. Buck has taught mathematics in the middle grades and high school; served as a Curriculum Support Specialist for her district in the Office of Curriculum and Instruction, Division of Mathematics; and was a middle school assistant principal. Ms. Buck has a broad knowledge of core and supplemental mathematics programs, which has helped her when presenting research-based strategies to educators to improve their pedagogic approach when assisting students in the mathematics classroom.
In addition to Ms. Buck’s experience with explicit mathematics instruction and professional development, she currently serves on the board of directors for the Montana Learning Center. She has also served on the board of directors for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and several NCTM committees. She continues to be active in local, state, and national mathematics education. Ms. Buck is deeply committed to education and believes that all children deserve high-quality instruction.
Valerie Byrnes is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Her passion is professional development in mathematics, with the integration of English language arts and technology. Her experiences include teaching first and sixth grades before joining a regional professional development program as a trainer. She earned a master’s degree in curriculum, teaching, and learning along with a mathematics endorsement from the University of Nevada-Reno.
She has worked extensively on the rollout and implementation of the Common Core State Standards, serving as the chairman of the professional development committee for the state of Nevada. She is also currently involved in STEM education and the Next Generation Team for the K–12 Science Framework at the state level.
Ms. Byrnes enjoys collaborating and learning with teachers. She holds a strong belief that students with a solid foundation in both mathematics and literacy will be important to paving the way forward in the twenty-first century.
Christie L. Cavanaugh is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She earned her Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in Special Education with concentrations in early childhood and reading after teaching for several years and receiving her master’s degree from George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in Special Education (early childhood and language). She completed her undergraduate degree from Tusculum College with dual certification in special and elementary education. Christie has extensive experience teaching in a variety of settings, including early childhood, early intervention, early childhood special education, special education in elementary grades, and higher education at the University of Florida and currently at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She has spent much of her career preparing future teachers and providing ongoing professional development to educators in the areas of language and literacy, with a particular focus on at-risk students and high-need schools in various contexts. She has been an educational consultant for schools, districts, and state departments to improve reading instruction, support schools in their efforts to implement effective, research- and evidence-based practices, including RTI or MTSS. As a faculty member in the department of Specialized Education Services at UNCG, she teaches undergraduate and graduate students and coordinates efforts to implement edTPA, a performance-based portfolio assessment for initial teaching licensure. Christie has maintained involvement with reading research centers in Texas and Florida and has written and presented nationally and internationally. She has also worked with colleagues to develop and revise statewide professional development programs and materials for elementary and special education teachers and administrators to enhance reading instruction and intervention for all students.
Jacqueline Colaneri is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Jacqueline is a highly experienced math and reading specialist. She holds a Master’s degree in Education and a Curriculum and Supervisor certification from Seton Hall University. Ms. Colaneri has extensive experience as a classroom teacher, supervisor of curriculum and instruction, and national presenter. She was employed as a classroom teacher and curriculum supervisor in New Jersey schools for 34 years. For the last eleven years, Jacqueline has worked nationally as a consultant collaborating with district administrators to identify instructional needs, and to develop and deliver professional development to address areas of concern, including providing extensive classroom coaching. She assisted with the design review, and delivery of Common Core State Standards workshops via train-the-trainer formats and district-level presentations in five states. Ms. Colaneri has conducted professional development sessions to build administrator and teacher capacity in all areas of K-8 instruction and assessment. Her experience includes GoMath Certifications, Brain Based Learning, Open Up Resources Math, and EnVision implementation. In addition to analysis of student data to assist in guiding classroom instruction and modeling lessons, Ms. Colaneri has experience facilitating curriculum writing committees, and supporting implementation of RTI. As a consultant and as a coach, Jacqueline is devoted to assisting teachers and instructional leaders address student needs, maximize learning, and foster a positive learning community.
Patty Copeland is an Educational Services consultant with CORE. She holds a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Tarleton State University with an additional specialization in Mathematics. Ms. Copeland holds Texas certifications as a secondary math teacher, as a Math 4-8 Specialist, and as a principal. As well as teaching high school math, she has served as District Math/Science Curriculum and Instruction Specialist, and as a mathematics consultant for her state agency.
Her extensive experience includes providing professional development, technical assistance, and effective leadership to campuses, districts, and charter schools. She has worked at the state and district level aligning national math and Common Core standards, preK-12, and English language proficiency standards with math instruction and assessment. She is actively involved in teacher training, with expertise in the areas of secondary math instruction using technology and sheltered instruction for English learners.
Ms. Copeland has served for several years as Project Director for the Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching in her local region. She is a member of NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics), NCSM (Math Ed Leadership), and TASM (Texas Association of Supervisors of Mathematics).
Ms. Copeland has taught and supervised the teaching of mathematics for over 25 years and truly has a passion for it, for teachers, and for students.
Karen Cordell is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Growing up in rural Mississippi, she credits her grandmother for nurturing her love of mathematics. Ms. Cordell obtained her bachelor’s degree in mathematics education from Mississippi State University and began her teaching career at a small high school in the Mississippi Delta. She later moved to New Jersey and continued teaching in high school, later transitioning to middle school. During her 30 years of classroom teaching, Ms. Cordell taught grades 6 – 12, basic skills through Pre-Calculus. She earned her master’s degree in Educational Leadership from The College of New Jersey. Her thesis and research focus were on effective practices that promote reflective practitioners. Through her research and own implementation of such practices in her classes, she saw a transformation amongst her students – students seeking understanding and ownership of their learning, students engaged in and talking about mathematics.
Ms. Cordell’s belief that all students deserve equitable access to rigorous curriculum and exceptional teachers led her to coaching/consulting work nationwide. Whether providing meaningful, impactful learning experiences to entire teams or partnering with individual teachers to build rapport, trust, and buy-in, Ms. Cordell contends that lasting change starts with a growth mindset. Empowering teachers with ongoing support, focused on highly effective teaching practices and timely/relevant learning experiences, is critical to improving mathematics instruction and promoting greater student success.
A few areas of teacher/leader support and professional development provided by Ms. Cordell include building content knowledge, curriculum pacing and standards alignment, checking student understanding and providing actionable feedback, adapting lessons to further enhance the rigor and cultural responsiveness, and data analysis to guide practice. Ms. Cordell maintains her commitment to and passion for the teaching and learning of mathematics, partnering with educational leaders and teachers to tackle current challenges facing educators nationwide.
Ms. Cordell holds Secondary Mathematics Certifications in the states of New Jersey and Florida and is a member of NCTM. She and her husband reside in Tennessee part of the year and Florida for the rest.
Paul Droms is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education (Mathematics) from Millersville (PA) University and a Master of Science degree in Technology for Educators from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.
Paul brings over 30 years of experience in public education to the CORE team. He has held the positions of Middle School Mathematics and Computer Literacy teacher, High School Mathematics and Computer teacher, District Technology Coordinator, Instructional Coach and District Assessment Data Coordinator. In these positions he has had the opportunity to provide job embedded professional development, modeling, and consulting for teachers, administrators, and school board members. Paul’s experience includes professional development, technology support, curriculum development and alignment, instructional coaching, and teaching.
In addition to Paul’s work in public education, he has over 10 years’ experience in providing professional development and instructional support nation-wide with several education companies. He was the lead implementation coordinator for a federally funded initiative providing product support and implementation services to multiple states, including Alaska, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Massachusetts. Paul also was the Director of Implementation Services and Professional Development for an education software company. He has led workshops and presentations at the local, state and national levels. Paul co-led transition of district mathematics curriculum from PA Standards-based to PA Common Core Standards based and provided professional development for Instructional Coaches on Common Core State Standards in Mathematics.
Paul is deeply committed to high-quality instruction for all students and providing ongoing support to all teachers.
Donna Gibson is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Ms. Gibson has more than 30 years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, and professional development trainer. During her years in education, she has taught at the elementary level for 10 years, language arts and math at the middle school level for 10 years, and English at the high school level for 13 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in education from the University of Tennessee at Martin. Ms. Gibson has spent the last five years working in at-risk schools as a School Improvement Specialist, a Literacy Trainer, and a Literacy Coach. She has a broad knowledge of research-based reading strategies, which she shares with educators to improve their pedagogic approach when moving reluctant/struggling readers to independent/advanced readers.
Ms. Gibson believes that all students can learn and that all students deserve highly effective teachers.
Margaret Goldberg is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Margaret currently serves as a literacy coach, reading intervention teacher, and Common Core Coach for a Title 1 school in Oakland Unified School District. Margaret designed and is implementing an RtI program for her school that leverages SIPPS and has resulted in as many as three grade levels of reading growth for struggling students this school year. For eight years prior to coaching Margaret was a classroom teacher in the Bay Area, during which time she used Making Meaning, Being a Writer, and Words in Action to build classroom community and to inspire growing readers and writers.
In addition to teaching and coaching, Margaret has done curriculum design work at the Center for the Collaborative Classroom, where she joined the development team for the early-reading program Being a Reader. She is a graduate of the Development Teacher Education master’s program at UC Berkeley.
Lauren Greenberg is a Senior Adolescent Literacy Coordinator with CORE. A magna cum laude graduate of Brown University with a degree in comparative literature, Lauren received her J.D. degree at the University of California, Berkeley, and practiced law for several years prior to teaching English and history at the middle school and high school levels for nine years.
As a CORE Educational Services Specialist since 1998, Lauren has trained thousands of teachers and administrators in proven literacy techniques to help struggling readers in grades K-12. She has supported teachers, administrators, and students in states from Florida to Alaska, and specializes in supporting high-impact schools with large populations of English learners and struggling readers.  Lauren has been a contributing writer and developer of many CORE trainings and workshops, and was a contributing author of CORE’s vocabulary curriculum, Word Intelligence. Her particular expertise in vocabulary development across the curriculum extends to work with English learners at all grade levels, and Lauren is a frequent presenter at national literacy conferences. She has provided professional development and executive coaching under the auspices of federally funded IES research grant, at SIG grant schools, at districts chosen to be recipients of private foundation support, and, most recently, in two states participating in a Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Grant administered by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. Lauren has supported large-scale Word Intelligence implementations including a four-year project involving over 20 secondary schools in Clark County, NV using Word Intelligence as part of their Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant. Finally, Lauren has deep expertise in a wide variety of reading programs and interventions designed to help struggling adolescent readers. She knows that many programs will work well if implemented with fidelity, while almost no program will be effective if poorly implemented. Her goal is to help each school or district implement its chosen programs with fidelity and skill, and to provide teachers and administrators with the deep expertise they need to meet the challenges of today’s students.
Cherise Harrington, M.Ed., is an Educational Services Consultant with the Consortium on Reaching Excellence in Education (CORE) and also works as a Professional Development Facilitator for Mathematics instruction with LearnZillion. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Educational Administration and Supervision which she earned at California State University, Fresno and holds an endorsement in Middle School Mathematics and is CLAD Certified. Cherise has traveled the country delivering professional development as a consultant and facilitator and has written and delivered several PD Modules and Workshops which she has presented at NCTM and Local Math Conferences. She has worked with schools and districts, providing support to Teachers, Site Administrators and Superintendents. Her area of expertise is with math instruction as she has coached many teachers and schools to measurable growth through effective PD followed up by onsite coaching and continued support.
Cherise has designed and delivered professional development in various areas including effective student engagement and checking for understanding, developing, administering and analyzing common formative assessments, and developing a protocol for conducting non-evaluative classroom walkthroughs for administrators and peer teachers. She has a knack for establishing a rapport on campuses which she attributes to building on the strengths of the teaching and administrative teams to develop goals, benchmarks and celebrating successes.
Along with her expertise in math instruction, Cherise has worked with sites to develop and implement effective Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS) and Response to Intervention (RtI) structures to support differentiated instruction. Cherise has also supported implementing and applying computer adaptive assessment designed to support RtI by providing and analyzing data for teachers and administrators to use in planning instruction and making decisions on designing courses to meet the needs of students.
Cherise’s passion is building capacity within schools. It is her core belief that everyone is doing the best they know how; growth comes in providing enough support in learning new strategies that can help us do even better. Cherise is based in Northern Virginia with her family.
David Hedges is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. He began his educational career while serving in the United States Navy, earning the Master Training Specialist designation as a digital electronic/number systems instructor. After nine years of active duty and an honorable discharge, David returned to his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at the University of South Carolina, and he continued his education at San Diego State University, earning a Master of Arts degree in educational technology. David currently holds both a California Secondary Teaching Credential in mathematics and a California Administrative Credential.
David’s varied experiences as a professional in education include teacher, site program coordinator, district technology staff developer, vice principal, district and county coordinator, university guest lecturer, national AVID presenter, leadership coach, teacher coach, and educational consultant. As an educational consultant, David has adopted a collaborative, sustainable approach to supporting teaching and learning in the classroom. Understanding that experiences affect beliefs, David has been successful in facilitating purposeful opportunities for teachers to collaborate: content support, lesson study, backward design, curriculum alignment, protocols for looking at student work, and data-driven decisions.
David believes strongly that all students should be in a position of choice the day they graduate from high school, so that they are ready and prepared to pursue any career path they choose.
Erick Herrmann is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, with minors in linguistics and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), and a master’s degree in teaching from Lewis & Clark College. Mr. Herrmann has taught Spanish at the high school level and Spanish literacy and English as a second language (ESL) at the elementary level, and he has served as a Title VII grant coordinator and Teacher on Special Assignment. As a CORE consultant, Mr. Herrmann has worked in Turnaround and Transformation schools in Colorado, Bureau of Indian Education schools in North Dakota, and districts in Arizona and Washington. Mr. Herrmann has a high degree of expertise in sheltered instruction and meeting the educational needs of English learners, as well as integrating academic language and literacy instruction into the content areas at all grade levels.
Mr. Herrmann is deeply committed to high-quality instruction for all students, and in his presentations he models effective, engaging instructional strategies that teachers can immediately use in their classrooms.
Kim Hertzog is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Kim holds a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and a Principal certificate. Kim has more than 30 years in education ranging from a classroom teacher to a mathematics coach to developing instructional coaches to a principal to the Director of Curriculum, mostly in urban, Title 1 school districts. Through these experiences, Kim has gained specific experience in mathematics and in teacher and school development.
Kim’s journey with high-quality mathematics instruction began as a second-year teacher when she had the opportunity to participate in an NSF-funded project focused on deepening teacher pedagogical content knowledge. The eventual introduction to Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) brought everything together to include the development of a framework for how students learn. Participation in these opportunities opened the doors to a career devoted to teacher and leader development.
Kim has extensive experience in facilitating professional development to develop content, pedagogy, knowledge of the standards, use of assessment, understanding student thinking and implementation of various instructional programs; building capacity at the site and district level for the implementation of high-quality instruction; increasing teacher and administrator understanding of the alignment between standards, the written curriculum, adopted instructional materials and assessment; curriculum development; data analysis to monitor school and district progress; and developing staff development programs to meet the needs of various levels of learners.
Beverly A. Jagla has been an Educational Services Consultant with CORE since 2003. She holds a Master of Education degree in special education from Central Washington University and received her Superintendent’s Credentials from Seattle Pacific University in 1995. Her teaching experiences include first grade, special education (K–6), gifted and talented (1–6), work in the British Primary Schools near London, and over 20 years as an adjunct professor with Central Washington University in its Teacher Education program. She was an elementary principal for 12 years in a K–5 school and an Assistant Superintendent for 13 years, working with curriculum, instruction, and professional development. Beverly has also served as an Acting Superintendent.
Beverly’s experience with CORE has included work in urban, suburban, and rural settings. She has done site implementation work with reading programs in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, New Mexico, North Dakota and Washington. She has delivered specific trainings in reading instruction in California, Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, New York, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington. She is totally committed to helping all children develop proficiency in reading and language arts skills.
Kristina Jaramillo is an Educational Services Specialist with CORE. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of New Mexico and a master’s degree in bilingual special education from the University of Texas at El Paso. She is licensed in both general education and special education and is endorsed in reading and TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language).
Kristina has been involved in education for 38 years. During this time, she worked within the Bureau of Indian Education for 30 years as a classroom teacher (K-8), a reading interventionist, special education teacher, school reading coach, and school improvement specialist. As a school improvement specialist, she provided technical assistance and training for gifted and talented programs, special education programs, English language learner programs, and native language programs. She also has experience as a mid-high school English Language Learner coordinator, a mid-school writing teacher and writing coach, a district reading specialist for the Albuquerque and Los Lunas Public School districts, and was a state reading specialist for the state of New Mexico. In her role as a district and state reading specialist, Kristina trained teachers throughout the state of New Mexico in foundational literacy skills, and provided coaching support to Title 1 and dual language schools.
Kristina believes that high quality literacy instruction is one of the most powerful tools that we have to combat poverty and increase the quality of life and future outcomes for all students.
Sewellyn Kaplan is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Riverside with a dual major in Spanish and English, and her master’s degree in Learning Disabilities from California State University, East Bay. She also holds an Administrative Credential in the State of California. Between degrees, Ms. Kaplan was a teacher and then the owner of a folk-art store (for 13 years), giving her a strong sense of entrepreneurship. In public education, she worked as a high school literacy coach for a large urban school district where she implemented all reading interventions and monitored the implementation of the Response to Intervention strategies. As a Special Education teacher, Ms. Kaplan also spent eight years teaching all students in an inclusive alternative high school setting. Her focus was on reading instruction. During that period, she received numerous awards, including Teacher of the Year, the Humanitarian Award, and the Warren W. Eukel Teacher Trust Award. Lastly, Ms. Kaplan was an Assistant Principal/Instructional Specialist at a large urban high school tasked with implementing all English Language Arts and mathematics curricula and working closely with teachers to improve instruction.
In all roles, she has been instrumental in developing and delivering professional development. Of particular note in education is her experience in both learning differences and very diverse populations of students, enabling her to offer teaching strategies for all populations.
In her career with CORE, she has had the opportunity to work with all grade levels, K-12, in implementing and assessing a wide variety of literacy programs, with an emphasis on supporting access to growth for all students. She has led trainings in vocabulary development, fluency, writing, and reading strategies. In the past few years, she has also had the opportunity to work with elementary school teachers, again with a focus on literacy.
In her numerous roles, Ms. Kaplan has worked closely with both teachers and students to ensure success and a love of learning that will endure a lifetime.
Ann Leon is an Educational Services Consultant for CORE. In addition to 20 years of elementary teaching experience that began in 1980, she spent the following 17 years in the roles of intervention teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, BTSA (beginning teacher) support provider, assistant principal, and literacy consultant.
Mrs. Leon has presented countless professional learning sessions to pre-service teachers, teachers, para-professionals, and administrators from urban, suburban, and rural districts across the country. Working with teachers in the areas of beginning reading development, RtII, MTSS, meeting the needs of English Learners, and data analysis are part of her on-going commitment since 2000.
In the pursuit of her own ongoing learning, Mrs. Leon had the privilege to learn from and work closely with the late John Shefelbine, lead author of SIPPS (Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, & Sight Words, © 2001, 2007, 2014) from 2000 to 2016. Her own growth and dedication evolved into supporting principals and teachers in professional learning – making instructional shifts toward powerful reading instruction by identifying and using Scientifically-Based Reading Research methods and programs, deepening teacher knowledge in their current practice, and utilizing a lesson study approach in working with students to support teachers.
Mrs. Leon’s continued commitment to reading acquisition and instruction all point toward having an impact on teachers’ instructional practice and the belief that all teachers can teach all children to read.
Kristina Livingston is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She has extensive experience working with students in grades K-6 as well as training and coaching both preservice and in-service educators in the field of literacy. Kristina currently serves as an adjunct instructor for the University of Mississippi where she works closely with preservice educators as they learn about implementing key practices to support literacy achievement in all students. Prior to her work as an instructor, Kristina spent several years leading professional development and serving as a literacy coach for the Mississippi Department of Education. Before that, she spent several years as an intervention specialist supporting struggling readers in a high-needs K-6 school. Kristina earned her Ed.D. from the University of Mississippi and holds a National Board Certification in the area of literacy. She not only has deep knowledge of pedagogy, but is well-studied in the art of andragogy, or adult education, and has provided hundreds of hours of engaging professional development over the last several years focusing on modeling and application of new concepts.
At Kristi’s core, she believes that every child deserves the best educational experience possible and that every teacher deserves the materials and support to help make that happen.
Angela McCord is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She holds a Master of Education degree and principal certification from the University of South Carolina and a Doctor of Educational Administration degree from South Carolina State University. Dr. McCord has served as middle school math and science teacher, certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in Early Adolescent Mathematics. Spanning over 20 years, she’s served as an Instructional Coach, Technology Integration Specialist, Middle School Administrator, School Improvement Specialist, and Post-Secondary Adjunct Instructor.
Presently, she serves as an Independent Education Consultant, delivering professional learning and coaching in mathematics, technology integration, and school improvement, developing her passion for improving teaching and learning, with a data-driven and student-centered approach.
Nancy McGivney is a Senior Educational Services Specialist with CORE. Her experience of teaching for over 18 years in classrooms with bilingual students and over 18 years working with CORE in a variety of situations has given her a wealth of knowledge and practicality in helping schools and teachers implement strong effective instruction for their students. Her expertise in various reading, writing and math programs adds to her flexibility.
Ms. McGivney’s experience with CORE includes working in urban, suburban, and rural school settings. She has served as a site consultant for schools ranging from city schools in Honolulu, Hawaii, to very rural schools on other islands in Hawaii, to remote schools in Alaska. She also has served as a consultant in literacy and math for rural Bureau of Indian Affairs schools through initial implementation and then refinement over subsequent years. Her interest in reading and math improvement for all students and, in particular for English learners, translates to a deep commitment to the success of each and every child. As a bilingual educator, she has worked with many of CORE’s dual language client schools to guide implementation of the ELA and Spanish language programs. She also loves providing professional development and support for math conceptual understanding and number fluency in math for teachers and students.
Lani Mednick is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She currently serves as an Assistant Principal of Instruction, with a focus on literacy and reading acquisition, at a Title 1 school in Oakland. She supports her school with high-quality MTSS and SIPPS implementation, which has resulted in as many as three grade levels of reading growth for struggling students this school year. For the four years prior, Lani co-designed, coached and led an Early Literacy Cohort of 16 sites with the goal of creating lasting systems of support to ensure all students are taught to read. For seven years prior to coaching, Lani was a classroom teacher and reading interventionist in Denver and the Bay Area.
In addition to teaching, coaching and administration, Lani has consulted with many school sites and districts towards understanding the key components of Structured Literacy and implications for implementation. She is a graduate of the Education master’s program at the University of Colorado, Denver.
Lois Mendoza is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She holds a master’s degree in Instruction and Leadership, an Administrative Services credential, and a Reading Specialist credential. For 26 years, Lois taught in the classroom and served as a reading coach, mentor for LAUSD literacy coaches, reading program consultant, and literacy trainer in urban and rural districts across the state of California. She provided support through district-wide and site-based professional development on research-based English Language Arts strategies for administrators, coaches, teachers, and paraprofessionals. Other forms of support included providing leadership to superintendents and principals through classroom observations, debriefing with the instructional leadership teams, and facilitating Instructional Rounds.Lois also served as a member of the EQuIP Peer Review Panel, an initiative of Achieve designed to identify high-quality materials aligned to the Common Core State Standards.
Ms. Mendoza joined CORE in 2015 and has worked with educators in urban, rural, and isolated district settings across the United States. Lois has instructed numerous CORE K-12 workshops for elementary principals, coaches, and teachers on research-based reading instruction with an emphasis on high quality first teaching. She has facilitated professional learning to address the needs of diverse learners through assessment-based tiered intervention and has extensive experience working in districts with populations of English Learners.  As a site consultant, Lois has a deep desire to build internal capacity in districts to ensure that all students are receiving quality instruction and that each student is growing to their full potential in learning to read.
Lynda Pate is an Educational Services Consultant for CORE. As a career educator beginning in 1990, Lynda has experienced and learned from her many roles in the public schools— a paraprofessional in Special Education, a classroom teacher mainstreaming students, an elementary site administrator supporting EL Students and all student assessment, and the inaugural position of Early Literacy Coordinator for Pajaro Valley Unified School District. In this last position, working closely with team members from CORE, Lynda was able to learn, witness, and support the transformation of reading instruction at 17 elementary schools over a three-year period.
Ms. Pate has presented professional learning sessions to parents, teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators. Ms. Pate was honored to be a part of a team presenting a poster of the PVUSD’s transformative work on Early Literacy at the Carnegie Summit in 2019 and virtually in 2020.
Tina Pelletier is a nationally-recognized leader in supporting administrators, staff development specialists, and teachers in developing effective systems of support to increase student achievement PreK-12. Â After eighteen years as a classroom teacher, reading interventionist, district curriculum leader, Ms. Pelletier became a part of CORE’s instructional service team in 1997. Â She spent seven years with CORE as part of the early development team creating training materials and supporting the consultant team.
Her recent experience has taken her to over thirty states nationally and four countries internationally to teach, model, and guide staff in using intense data analysis to effectively support students in Tier I, II, and III instruction. She has developed a data analysis process that helps district and schools increase achievement for staff and students.
Ms. Pelletier has served as an independent, international consultant providing practical support to federal and state agencies, administrators, districts, schools, and teachers in the area of Reading/Language Arts using a hands-on approach that is rooted in practical application of essential strategies with ties to data and rigorous attention to increased student achievement. Her areas of expertise include; School Program Improvement, Teacher Development and Training, Administrative Leadership, and Literacy through coaching, workshop, and institute opportunities. She is excited about rejoining the CORE Educational Services Team.
Terry Petersen is an Educational Services Consultant for CORE. Terry earned a BS at the University of Southern California, MS degrees in curriculum development and educational leadership at the California State University, Fullerton, and an Ed.D. from the University of Southern California with her research focused on teacher education in a multi-cultural society with an emphasis in early literacy. Terry holds a California Standard Teaching Credential, K-9 Diversified, and a California Administrative Services Credential.
She is a veteran educator with over forty years of experience in the public school setting. Terry was an elementary classroom teacher, a program specialist in services for English learners, a K-12 coordinator of English Language Arts, an elementary school principal and a director of educational services in a large district in Southern California. With experience in professional and curriculum development, literacy instruction, and executive coaching for school leaders, Terry currently enjoys working with others within the educational arena to advocate for rigorous instruction that leads to better teaching and learning.
Michelle Ramey is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She holds a master’s degree in education with a reading emphasis from California State University at Sacramento. Mrs. Ramey has taught grades 1, 3, and 5, and she has served as a reading specialist, reading clinician, reading coach, and reading program consultant to administrators, coaches, and teachers in urban and rural districts throughout California. She has also taught postgraduate courses on the teaching of reading.
Mrs. Ramey has developed and instructed numerous trainings and institutes on research-based reading instruction for teachers, reading coaches, and administrators, with a strong emphasis on the significance of good first teaching, addressing the needs of diverse learners, and assessment-based early and tiered intervention. She has extensive experience working with districts with populations of English learners. She has conducted literacy audits for CORE clients and provided classroom-embedded support and trainings in urban and rural schools in Alaska, California, Colorado, Michigan, and Virginia. Her passion for excellence in reading instruction translates to a deep commitment to the success of each and every child learning to read.
Lisa Ramish is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She spent 10 years as a 5th and 8th grade classroom teacher, guiding her students to the top 5 percent of growth nationally, an average of 2 to 3 years of growth in a single school year. In 2011, she was given the highest award for math educators in the country, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.
As senior math coach, Lisa designed and grew the K-5 math program at KIPP DC. The network’s results jumped immediately in Lisa’s first year and continued to stay in the top 20 percent of all schools in Washington DC throughout Lisa’s 8-year tenure. Lisa scaled systems as the network grew from 35 to over 150 teachers. Every year, KIPP DC’s over 2,000 elementary schoolers were some of the highest performing mathematicians in the city.
Candace Rice is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She holds a doctorate degree in curriculum and instruction from Argosy University in Sarasota, Florida. Dr. Rice has taught several grades at the middle and high school levels, has served as a reading/writing teacher specialist for low-performing schools in South Carolina, and has been a National Consultant for Soar to Success. In addition, she spent several years teaching adult education literacy courses.
Dr. Rice has presented numerous professional development sessions for classroom teachers, administrators, and district and state personnel. She has experience working in urban, suburban, and rural school settings. Her interest in literacy acquisition translates to a deep commitment for the success of each and every child learning to read.
Teresa M. Roeder has a long and distinguished history with CORE. She worked as a full-time consultant during CORE’s developmental period, helping to create CORE’s services and products and is presently an Educational Services Consultant. Ms. Roeder returned to her school district, San Ramon Valley in California, where she worked in the Office of Instruction and Assessment, responsible for professional staff development districtwide, curriculum development, and implementation of the K–3 Assessment Plan aligned with a standards-based reporting system; served on the District Assessment Team; was the K-12 District Inclusion Specialist; and most recently assumed a position at the high school level as a teacher of English and a Resource Specialist for students identified as dyslexic for participation in special education. She has served in the capacity of a Teacher Leader, Mentor Teacher, and districtwide new teacher coach and Literacy Specialist, providing professional staff development in general education and special education in grades K–12. Further, Ms. Roeder has served as an instructor in the Reading Certificate Program for the University of California, Berkeley.
Just before returning to CORE, she served as Executive Editor for LeapFrog School House and was a contributing member to a research study involved with the University of London. Ms. Roeder holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and sociology from the University of Sonoma with an Elementary Credential, a Learning Handicapped and Severely Handicapped Specialist Credential, and resource specialist’s advanced degree.
Debi Shippey is an Educational Services Consultant for CORE. Debi has more than 38 years of experience in public education. She earned both teaching and administrative credentials from Sonoma State University. Her experience includes work as a primary classroom teacher, literacy coach instructor, reading specialist, BTSA support provider, summer school site principal, school site assistant principal, district support coordinator, and reading consultant working the areas of beginning reading development, Response to Intervention, and data analysis.
In addition, Debi has presented and trained teachers in SIPPS (Center for the Collaborative Classroom’s foundational skills program) throughout the state of California. Recently retired from public education, she looks forward to continuing her passion for excellence in teaching reading. Debi is a firm believer that all students can learn to read and that educators do their best until they know better, and when they know better, they do better.
Shelby Skaanes is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Shelby has been an educator for more than 25 years, working as a consultant since 2004. In this role, she provides professional development and technical assistance virtually and on-site across the northwest. Shelby’s consulting services in the last fifteen years have supported a number of educational organizations including the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in Washington State, Idaho State Department of Education, Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, Education Northwest, Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD), as well as numerous districts and schools across the northwest. Her primary areas of expertise are K-12 research-based literacy instruction, evidence-based interventions, assessment, and leadership support.
The last eight years of Shelby’s career have been focused on implementation of state specific standards, alignment of these standards to core instructional materials, data analysis of many widely used assessment systems, and the impact of this on the design and delivery of instruction and intervention support, K-12.
Lauri Susi is an Educational Mathematics Consultant for CORE. She holds a master’s degree in special education and educational technology. She is an expert in the areas of elementary mathematics, the strategic use of technology, and supporting students with special needs.
Lauri Susi has been active in the field of education for more than 35 years. She has been a special education teacher, classroom teacher, technology teacher, and a university instructor. As a special education teacher, she collaborated with teachers to provide specialized instruction for students with a broad range of abilities that included the implementation of digital content and assistive technology. As a classroom teacher, she has taught first and sixth grade with a focus on mathematics. As a district technology teacher, she facilitated the integration of technology into K-12 instruction by working with district leadership, curriculum planning teams and classroom teachers at all levels.
Lauri has also been a lecturer in the schools of education at the University of Hartford and at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro where she supervised student teachers and taught methods courses.
Lauri has spent the past twelve years consulting and providing staff development and leadership workshops for districts on implementation of effective instructional practice including instruction aligned to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.
More than 35 years of experience as an educational administrator and classroom teacher serve as the basis for Sharon Ruiz Van Vleck’s work as a CORE Educational Services Consultant. Her primary areas of expertise are research-based reading instruction, leadership support, professional development design and delivery, and school improvement. As a former Research Associate in the Sacramento, California, office of RMC Research Corporation, Ms. Van Vleck provided technical assistance services through the National Reading Technical Assistance Center (NRTAC) to state and local educational agencies on the implementation of Reading First grants and subgrants. Her responsibilities included supporting the implementation of reading programs aligned with scientific reading research, building Reading First grantees’ capacity to use data to guide instructional decision making, and developing instructional tools that augment teacher effectiveness. In addition, Ms. Van Vleck had leadership responsibility for NRTAC projects, including chairing the national professional development session on Advanced Coaching, the development of professional development modules (Meeting the Needs of All Learners, and Advanced Coaching), and as lead for technical assistance in the Western State Cluster.
Prior to joining RMC Research, Ms. Van Vleck served as Director of Training and Development and Director of the Reading First California Technical Assistance Center at the Reading Lions Center in Sacramento. She also previously held administrative positions in the Sacramento City Unified School District, including principal and Director for Elementary Language Arts Curriculum. In addition, Ms. Van Vleck devoted many years to teaching and mentoring teachers in urban elementary schools with a high proportion of English learners.
Ms. Van Vleck earned a bachelor’s degree in art and history from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is credentialed in California for teaching and administration and is certified as a Reading Specialist and Language Development Specialist. Ms. Van Vleck teaches California Reading Language Arts Specialist Credential and California Reading Certificate courses at the University of California Los Angeles Extension and the University of California Davis Extension.
Mona Thompson is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She holds a Master Math Teacher Certification for grades 4–8 along with a Secondary Mathematics Certification in the state of Texas. She obtained a master’s degree in education with a focus on curriculum and instruction from Sam Houston State University through a Texas program offered to select high-performing math teachers. Ms. Thompson has 30-plus years of teaching experience, with the last 10 years focused on coaching teachers and writing curriculum to ensure success in algebra. She has witnessed firsthand that empowering teachers with current best practices and providing ongoing support are the keys to improving mathematics instruction and success for more students. Ms. Thompson was also instrumental in developing intensive intervention programs that target at-risk students and assisted teachers to provide custom-designed data-driven lessons to meet the needs of all students. As a member of the leadership team, Ms. Thompson provided professional development for teachers and leaders on lesson design, formative assessments, questioning strategies, curriculum alignment, unpacking the standards, content support, and motivating students. She has mentored new teachers through both college and alternative certification programs. Teaching math is her passion, and her experience with both students and teachers enables her to assist educational leaders to solve the tough problems facing teachers across the nation.
Lula Turnipseed was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University Dominguez Hills and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from California State University Northridge. She worked for Los Angeles Unified School District for twelve years as an elementary school teacher, mentor, and a reading content specialist for the Governor’s Reading Institute. She moved to Texas in 2004 and worked under the direction of the Institute for Public Schools Initiative for the Texas Reading First grant. She dedicated nine years of service towards professional development and building foundational literacy skills for teachers, literacy coaches and administrators via trainings, research-based teaching practices, classroom observations, data analysis and instructional leadership forums. She worked as an elementary school principal for three years and a Superintendent for seven years. Her biggest career challenge and monumental achievement can be found under CORE’s success stories!
Susan Van Zant is a Senior Educational Services Specialist with CORE. She holds an MA in curriculum development from Northern Arizona University and an Ed.D Â in educational leadership from Alliant University in San Diego. Susan taught reading prior to her appointment as school principal. As an informed elementary and middle school principal for 27 years in the Poway Unified School District, she worked with teachers to present well-defined reading and math programs, which led to increasingly high achievement scores for all student including those with disabilities. Four of the schools where she was principal were recognized as California Distinguished School and three went on to be identified as National Blue Ribbon Schools.
Susan served as president of the San Diego California Association of School Administrators, was president of California Elementary Principals, and served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Elementary and Middle School Principals. Susan taught leadership courses for two universities in San Diego. In recognition for her achievements Susan was selected to be a National Distinguished Principal, the California Educator of the Year, and is a Milken Educator Award recipient.
Susan enthusiastically works as a district and site advisor serving with kindergarten through twelfth grade educators in urban, suburban, rural, and isolated reservation school settings throughout the United States. Susan’s knowledge of core reading and intervention programs combined with extensive experience working with populations of English learners, and students with disabilities helps to ensure that student achievement levels improve at the schools she serves. Susan is co-author author of Words for Academic Writing: Vocabulary Across the Curricula and E-Solution, an extension of the Six Minute Solution. In addition, she has published articles in educational journals and on-line blogs related to effective classroom management strategies, small group instruction, community relations, and using assessment data to drive instructional decisions.
Sara Tellman Veloz’ career in education spans over twenty years. She spent the first twelve years teaching in a large urban school district in Northern California. Equipped with a baccalaureate degree in Child Development, a master’s degree in Education with emphasis in Literacy, a teaching credential specializing in cross cultural education, and additional authorizations in literacy and English language learning, Sara has developed extensive experience teaching in diverse classrooms.
Outside the classroom, Sara has developed experience in curriculum design, professional development, and instructional coaching. In 2003, Sara participated with a team of teachers and curriculum designers in developing a revised edition of a successful reading intervention curriculum. Currently, Sara works nationally and internationally as an independent education consultant and instructional coach. In 2013 and 2014 Sara traveled to northern India to provide not for profit professional development in English acquisition methodology and best practices in reading instruction to Tibetan middle and high school teachers. A joint venture sponsored by the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation, an NGO dedicated to Tibetan Education in exile, and the Tibetan Department of Education, Sara’s work with the English Acquisition Project is expected to continue for several years.
While much of her work remains focused on providing instruction for struggling readers, Sara also consults on effective literacy practices for on-grade-level readers. Additionally, Sara presents and coaches widely on such topics as improving teacher preparedness to teach; maximizing student engagement through sustained Academic Conversations between student partnerships; interpreting student achievement data and implementing effective instructional responses for all levels of student achievement; and delivering effective instruction to English Learners.
Nancy Volpe is a Senior Educational Services Specialist with CORE. She holds a master’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, with a major in instructional process with a focus on reading. Ms. Volpe has an extensive and varied background, having served as a reading coach, a primary and middle grade teacher, a Title I Math and Reading Specialist, a Reading Recovery instructor, a district workshop facilitator, and a District Literacy Specialist. Ms. Volpe has broad knowledge of core and supplemental reading programs designed for elementary and middle school grades. She has worked as a reading consultant for textbook companies and as an independent reading consultant.
In addition to developing and marketing classroom and task-timing products for classrooms, Ms. Volpe developed her own program to promote reading and writing across the curriculum, which received grant funding. Ms. Volpe has a deep interest in the reading process and strives to help ensure the success of every child learning to read.
Ms. Volpe has served as a CORE Educational Services Specialist since 2008. She has experience presenting CORE professional development workshops and as a site consultant in states from Florida to Alaska. She works with educators in urban, suburban, and Bureau of Indian Education school settings throughout the United States. Her experience and set of skills enable her to assist school staffs in meeting the needs of their population and improving student academic achievement.
Jill Youngren is an Educational Services Consultant for CORE. Jill comes with thirty plus years as an educator with extensive experience serving as a classroom teacher for fourteen years teaching kindergarten through eighth grade and a reading specialist in middle school. She went on to be a literacy coach, District Literacy and Assessment Coordinator, principal, District Coordinator of Instructional Coaches, university instructor, MTSS Implementation Consultant for Colorado Department of Education, and Educational Services Consultant for companies specializing in PreK-12 Literacy.Â
Ms. Youngren hast supported schools with implementing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support at the school, district, and regional level. Through this support schools developed a framework for implementing Response to Intervention supporting academics and social emotional learning needs. The work consisted of providing professional learning in the areas of team-driven shared leadership, data-based problem solving and decision-making, family, school, community partnering, layered continuum of supports for students and adults, evidence-based instruction, intervention, and assessment practices.Â
One of her greatest accomplishments is supporting educators with meeting their goals by developing feasible action steps. Ms. Youngren’s ability to connect with people and her knowledge of standards combined with evidence based instructional strategies has been a driving force to this accomplishment. Â
Jill’s experience in education has impacted the lives of educators in urban, suburban, and rural school settings. She has been a lead consultant in establishing alignment of support for MTSS and programs of language acquisition, learning disabled, gifted and talented, as well as general education. Ms. Youngren’s passion and commitment to education has translated to a deep dedication to the success of each and every child growing to their full potential and most of all learning to read. Her experience and set of skills serve to enhance the delivery of effective instruction for all educators.Â
